Guard for chick founts



R. S. WHITMAN GUARD FOR cxw'ox FOUNTS I May 5, 1925. v 1,936,699

Fi led April 19. 1924 fly I /IIIIYMP0 270995997 0 5., Mwrm9m PatentedMay 5, 1925.

UNITED STATES ROBERT S. WHITMAN, OF VAN NUYS, CALIFORNIA.

GUARD FOR CHICK FOUNTS.

Application filed April 19, 1924. Serial No. 707,634.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT S. VVHITMAN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Van Nuys, in the county of Los Angeles and State ofCalifornia, have invented a new and useful Guard for Chick Founts, ofwhich the following is a specification.

Although my present invention is referred to as a guard for a drinkingfountain for chicks, it should be understood that guard elements of thenovel type herein disclosed are suitable for use in connection withfeeding troughs as well as drinking fountains; and it should also beunderstood that while my invention is intended primarily to preventyoung chicks from becoming wet and chilled or killed as a consequence oftheir getting into or being-pushed into drinking fountains, it is alsoan important object of this invention to provide means tending toprevent the fouling of drinking water or foods rendered-accessible tochicks by the exposure thereof in basins or troughs or other utensils ofany preferred shape.

It is an especial object of my invention to provide a very simple guardsuitable for use in connection with drinking fountains of a familiartype comprising an inverted bowl or receptacle adapted to be disposedcentrally within a basin of somewhat larger diameter, a hole beingprovided near or at the edge of said inverted bowl in such manner as topermit entrance of air thereto whenever the water in the surroundingbasin falls below a predetermined level; and, in a preferred embodimentof my invention, this guard may comprise a helical coil of wire whoseends are connected to form a ring of a size suitable to be resilientlyretained at any level to which it may be adjusted upon the outer wall ofthe mentioned inverted bowl. The helical circular coil of the characterreferred to may optionally be of such diameter that its inner side shallcontact with the outer wall of the mentioned how] or any equivalentreceptacular element, its outer side optionally contacting with theinner wall of the basin or dish in which the receptacular element may beinverted; and a resilient uard of the character referred to may thus eefi'ective not only to prevent young chicks from wetting themselves, orone another, by crowding into a drinking fountain, and to preventfouling of water or food contained in any dish or trough, but when used1n connection with an inverted bowl, or the like, disposed within abasin of larger diameter, this guard may be of use also in maintainingthe central position of the inverted bowl within the basin; and such aguard may either be permitted to contact with the water or food providedfor young chicks or it may be malntained at any desired levelthereabove, the resiliency of a helical coil of the character describedbeing suflicientnot only to maintain it at any desired level upon theexterior of a slightly tapered central bowl, but also sufficient topermit of the use of such a coil upon bowls having slightly differingdiameters.

Although I may prefer to form my novel guards exclusively of a singlepiece of wire, I may optionally provide an interior loop tendlng toprevent expansion thereof beyond an elastic limit; or I may employ sheetmetal or other materials, provided the same be cut in such manner as toavoid danger that young chicks shall be trapped therein, and in suchmanner as to permit the resilient retention of a guard in substantiallythe way described.

Other objects of my invention will appear from the following descriptionof alternative embodiments thereof, taken in connection with theappended claims and the accompanying drawings, in which- Fig. 1 is avertical section through a drinking fountain equipped with an embodimentof my invention.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view,

taken substantially as indicated by the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of an adaptation of my invention to use inconnection with a rectilinear trough for water or feed.

Referring to the details of that specific embodiment of my inventionshown in Figs. 1 and 2, 11 may be an inverted bowl or other receptacularelement having downwardly extending or substantially vertical walls,this bowl being shown as provided at 12 with an opening through whichwater may escape into an outer basin 13 whenever the level of the waterin the latter shall fall so low as to permit bubbles of air to enterthrough the aperture 12. The type of fountain here referred to isalready in extensive use, and my present invention relates only to an organization comprising a suitable guard, such as the helical coil 14,adapted to be resilient- 1y retained in contact with supporting or tionof water or food, I may employ a mere helical coil having its endsunited in such manner as to form a complete ring or annulus; and theends of the coil may be united in any suitable way, as by merely formingin each wire a loop surrounding the other wire in proximity to the loopthereon, as best illustrated at 15, 15, in Fig. 2. A

coil of the character referred to may be of any preferred size, and therespective turns of wire may be spaced as desired, provided that theintervals therebetween be large enough to permit the head of a chick tomove freely 'therebetween and yet close enough together to prevent thebody of a chick or its wings from becoming wet; and it is an imortantadvantage of the simple construction 1118i, referred to that although mynovel guard may be formed from a single piece of wire, the articleproduced involves no sharp angles or intersecting elements by which achick might be entrapped.

In Fig. 3 is shown an adaptation of a helical coil to the exclusion ofchicks from a rectilinear receptacle in the form of a trough, which maybe either a watering trough or afeed trough, the expansive tendency ofthe guard being suiiicient to retain the same in place; and I mayoptionally provide either the annular guard shown in Figs. 1 and 2 orthe alternative form shown in Fig. 3 with means such as an additionalwire 16 extending therethrough and tending to prevent the expansionthereof beyond an elastic limit, the restraining wire 16 of thatembodiment of my invention illustrated in Fig. 3 being integral orcontinuous with the rectilinear helix 17 extending between the ends 18of the trough 19. In either of the described forms of my invention, theends of a wire comprising a helix may be connected by loops, each loopsurrounding a wire below the loop thereon, and these loops may either beclosed F-i tightly as to preyent longitudinal movement, or left looseenough to permit such movemert, in response to longitudinal compression.

It will be understood that the form of my invention illustrated in Figs.1 and 2 is intended to comprise a guard of suflicient resilienc torender the same substantially self-retaining at any-predetermined level;but the coils of the same may advantageous- ]y be of such diameter as tointerfit between the walls of the bowl 11 and the basin 13 withoutpermitting actual contact of the guard element with the drinking water;and the guard element may, when used in this manner, serve as an aid incentering the bowl 11 within the basin 13.

My guards are sufliciently elastic to permit the same to be used uponreceptacles of various sizes, and all forms of my invention areeffective, in an obvious manner, not only for the protection of chicks,or the like, but to preserve the purity of water or food provided forthe same.

Although I have herein described several alternative embodiments of myinvention, it will be understood that various features thereof might beindependently employed; and also that various additional modificationsmight be devised by those skilled in the art, without the slightestdeparture from the spirit and scope of my invention as the same isindicated above and in the following claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a poultry appliance, a guard formed of resilient material andadapted to be sup ported by engagement with a wall of a receptacle, saidguard comprising a single wire coiled in a helix and having its endsconnected.

2. In a poultry appiimce, a guard formed of resilient material andadapted to be supported by engagement with a wall of a receptacle, saidguard comprising a single wire coiled in a helix and having its endsconnected by loops, each loop surrounding a wire below a loop therein.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set m hand at Los Angeles,California, this 8th day of April, 1924.

ROBERT S. WHITMAN.

